IRONWOOD PHARMACEUTICALS INC (IRWD) Business

Item 1.    Business

Our Company

We are a biotechnology company developing and commercializing life-changing therapies for people living with gastrointestinal, or GI, and rare diseases. We are focused on the development and commercialization of innovative product opportunities in areas of significant unmet need, leveraging our demonstrated expertise and capabilities in GI and rare diseases.

LINZESS® (linaclotide), our commercial product, is the first product approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, or U.S. FDA, in a class of GI medicines called guanylate cyclase type C agonists, or GC-C agonists, and is indicated for the treatment, in the U.S., of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, or IBS-C, in adults and pediatric patients 7 years of age and older, chronic idiopathic constipation, or CIC, in adults, and functional constipation, or FC, in pediatric patients ages 6-17 years-old. LINZESS is also available for the treatment of adults with IBS-C or CIC in Mexico, adults with IBS-C or chronic constipation in Japan, and adults with IBS-C in China. Linaclotide is available under the trademarked name CONSTELLA® for the treatment of adults with IBS-C or CIC and pediatric patients ages 6-17 years old with FC in Canada, and to adults with IBS-C in certain European countries.

We have strategic partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies to support the development and commercialization of linaclotide throughout the world, including with our partner, AbbVie Inc. (together with its affiliates), or AbbVie, in the U.S. and all countries worldwide other than China (including Hong Kong and Macau) and Japan, AstraZeneca AB (together with its affiliates), or AstraZeneca, in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) and Astellas Pharma Inc., or Astellas, in Japan.

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Through our acquisition of VectivBio Holding AG, or VectivBio, in June 2023, or the VectivBio Acquisition, we are advancing apraglutide, a next-generation, synthetic long-acting peptide analog of glucagon-like peptide-2, or GLP-2, for short bowel syndrome, or SBS, patients who are dependent on parenteral support, or PS. In February 2024, we announced positive topline results from our pivotal Phase III clinical trial, STARS, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of once-weekly subcutaneous apraglutide in reducing PS dependency in adult patients with short bowel syndrome with intestinal failure, or SBS-IF. We are also conducting an open-label extension study, STARS Extend, to further assess the safety of apraglutide in adult patients with SBS-IF. In April 2025, we announced that, based on discussions with the U.S. FDA, a confirmatory Phase III clinical trial is needed to seek approval of a new drug application or NDA, for apraglutide for patients with SBS-IF who are dependent on PS. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we met with the U.S. FDA and aligned on key design elements of a confirmatory Phase III clinical trial, STARS-2, of apraglutide. Site initiations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026.

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We were incorporated in Delaware on January 5, 1998 as Microbia, Inc. On April 7, 2008, we changed our name to Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. To date, we have dedicated a majority of our activities to the research, development and commercialization of linaclotide, as well as other research and development programs, including apraglutide.

Drug development involves a high degree of risk and investment, and the status, timing and scope of our development programs are subject to change. Important factors that could adversely affect our drug development efforts are discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Performance Against 2025 Core Priorities

In 2025, our GI and rare diseases-focused strategy, building on our commercial success and GI development capabilities, continued to focus on three core priorities: maximizing LINZESS, advancing apraglutide, and delivering sustained profits and cash flow.

Maximizing LINZESS

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Advancing Apraglutide

Delivering sustained profits and cash flow

Linaclotide

IBS-C and CIC are chronic, functional GI disorders that afflict millions of sufferers worldwide. As many as 11.5 million adults suffer from IBS-C and as many as 28.5 million adults suffer from CIC in the U.S., based on Rome II criteria from the Lieberman GI Patient Landscape Survey performed in 2010, or the Lieberman Survey. Symptoms of IBS-C include abdominal pain, discomfort and/or bloating and constipation symptoms (e.g., incomplete evacuation, infrequent bowel movements, hard/lumpy stools), while CIC is primarily characterized by constipation symptoms. Greater than 65% of IBS-C patients suffer from bloating and/or discomfort at least one time per week, according to the Lieberman Survey.

Linaclotide—U.S. In August 2012, the U.S. FDA approved LINZESS as a once daily treatment for adults suffering from IBS-C (290 mcg dose) or CIC (145 mcg dose). We and AbbVie began commercializing LINZESS in the U.S. in December 2012. In January 2017, the U.S. FDA approved a 72 mcg dose of linaclotide for the treatment of adults with CIC in the U.S.

We and AbbVie continue to explore ways to enhance the clinical profile of LINZESS by studying linaclotide in additional indications, populations, and formulations to assess its potential to treat various conditions. In September 2020, based on the Phase IIIb data of linaclotide 290 mcg on the overall abdominal symptoms of bloating, pain and discomfort, in adult patients with IBS-C, the U.S. FDA approved our supplemental new drug application to include a more comprehensive description of the effects of LINZESS in its approved label.

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In addition, we and AbbVie have established a nonclinical and clinical post-marketing plan with the U.S. FDA to understand the safety and efficacy of LINZESS in pediatric patients. In August 2021, the U.S. FDA approved a revised label for LINZESS based on clinical safety data that had been generated thus far in pediatric studies. The updated label modified the boxed warning for risk of serious dehydration and contraindication against use in children to those less than two years of age. The boxed warning and contraindication previously applied to all children less than 18 years of age and less than 6 years of age, respectively. In June 2023, the U.S. FDA approved LINZESS as a once-daily treatment for pediatric patients ages 6-17 years-old with FC, making LINZESS the first and only U.S. FDA-approved prescription therapy for FC in this patient population. On October 15, 2025, the U.S. FDA granted us a pediatric exclusivity for studies conducted on linaclotide, and in November 2025, approved LINZESS for pediatric patients 7 years of age and older with IBS-C. Additional clinical pediatric programs in FC are ongoing.

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Linaclotide—Global. AbbVie has rights to develop and commercialize linaclotide in all countries worldwide other than China (including Hong Kong and Macau) and Japan. CONSTELLA is the first, and to date, only drug approved in the European Union, or E.U., for IBS-C. CONSTELLA first became commercially available in certain European countries beginning in 2013. AbbVie is commercializing CONSTELLA in a number of European countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain for adults with IBS-C.

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AbbVie has exclusive rights to commercialize linaclotide in Canada as CONSTELLA and in Mexico as LINZESS. CONSTELLA became commercially available in Canada in 2014 for adults with IBS-C or CIC and in 2024 for pediatric patients ages 6-17 years-old with FC. LINZESS became commercially available in Mexico in 2014 for adults with IBS-C or CIC.

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Astellas has rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize linaclotide in Japan. Astellas began commercializing LINZESS in Japan for adults with IBS-C in 2017, and for adults with chronic constipation in 2018.

AstraZeneca has rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize linaclotide in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). In 2019, AstraZeneca began commercializing LINZESS in China for adults with IBS-C.

Apraglutide for SBS-IF

Through the VectivBio Acquisition, we are advancing apraglutide, a next-generation, long-acting synthetic peptide analog of GLP-2, as a potentially differentiated therapeutic for SBS patients who are dependent on PS.

SBS is a malabsorption disorder caused by the loss of functional small intestine, with symptoms that include diarrhea, dehydration, malnutrition and weight loss. SBS typically occurs in adults as a consequence of irreparable GI damage caused by physical trauma, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, ischemia or cancer requiring surgeries that result in the removal of large portions of the small intestine or colon. In infants and children, SBS is typically a consequence of congenital defects or decreases in intestinal absorptive capacity secondary to surgical procedures. The symptoms and severity of SBS can vary depending upon the length and function of the remaining portion of the intestine. Patients suffer from SBS-IF when their gut function is reduced below the minimum function necessary for the absorption of macronutrients or water and electrolytes required to survive and, in the case of infants and children, to maintain health and growth.

In February 2024, we announced positive topline results from our pivotal Phase III clinical trial, STARS, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of once-weekly subcutaneous apraglutide in reducing PS dependency in adult patients with SBS-IF. We are also conducting an open-label extension study, STARS Extend, to further assess safety of apraglutide in adult patients with SBS-IF. In preparation for an NDA submission for apraglutide, pharmacokinetic analysis indicated that the exposure and dose delivered in the STARS Phase III clinical trial of apraglutide were lower than planned due to dose preparation and administration. In April 2025, we announced that, based on discussions with the U.S. FDA, a confirmatory Phase III clinical trial is needed to seek approval of an NDA for apraglutide for patients with SBS-IF who are dependent on PS. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we met with the U.S. FDA and aligned on key design elements of a confirmatory Phase III clinical trial, STARS-2, of apraglutide. STARS-2 is expected to be a 24-week global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The clinical trial will consist of a primary endpoint measuring relative change from baseline in actual weekly PS volume, as well as additional key secondary endpoints. Site initiations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026.

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IW-3300

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We were developing IW-3300, a GC-C agonist, for the potential treatment of visceral pain conditions, such as interstitial cystitis and bladder pain syndrome, or IC/BPS. In April 2025, based on analysis of the Phase II data, we decided to cease developing IW-3300 for IC/BPS.

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Collaborations and Partnerships

As part of our GI and rare disease focus, we have development and commercial capabilities that we plan to leverage as we seek to bring medicines to patients. We intend to play an active role in the development and commercialization of our products in the U.S., either independently or with partners that have strong capabilities. We also intend to establish strong global brands by out-licensing development and commercialization rights to our products in other key territories to high-performing partners. We plan to seek collaborations that increase the value of our products by providing meaningful economics and incentives for us and any potential partner.

We have pursued a partnering strategy for commercializing linaclotide that has allowed us to focus our commercialization efforts in the U.S. and enabled partners with strong global capabilities to commercialize linaclotide in territories outside of the U.S.

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The following chart shows our revenue for the U.S. and the rest of the world as a percentage of our total revenue for each of the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.

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Revenue attributable to our linaclotide partnerships comprised substantially all of our revenue for each of the years indicated. Further, we currently derive a significant portion of our revenue from our LINZESS collaboration with AbbVie for the U.S. and believe that the revenues from this collaboration will continue to constitute a significant portion of our total revenue for the foreseeable future. Our revenue from our LINZESS collaboration with AbbVie for the U.S. is highly dependent on the responsiveness of patients to fill prescriptions and other factors such as retail chain and wholesaler buying patterns, pricing and reimbursement and inventory channel levels. On November 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, released the Maximum Fair Price, or MFP, for LINZESS, which was selected in the most recent round of government price setting as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The MFP for a 30-day equivalent supply of LINZESS, which will become the new Medicare net price as of January 1, 2027, is set to $136. The revised MFP for LINZESS was in line with our expectations. Also, effective January 1, 2026, we and our partner, AbbVie, lowered the LINZESS list price in response to evolving health care dynamics and to support ongoing patient access. Our collaborative arrangements revenue may continue to fluctuate as a result of the timing and amount of sales of linaclotide in the markets in which it is currently approved, or any other markets where linaclotide receives approval, as well as clinical and commercial milestones received and recognized under our strategic partnerships outside of the U.S.

Collaboration Agreement for North America with AbbVie

In September 2007, we entered into a collaboration agreement with AbbVie to develop and commercialize linaclotide for the treatment of IBS-C, CIC and other GI conditions in North America. Under the terms of this collaboration agreement, we received an upfront licensing fee, equity investment, and development and regulatory milestones, and we share equally with AbbVie all development costs as well as net profits or losses from the development and sale of linaclotide in the U.S. In addition, we receive royalties in the mid-teens percent based on net sales in Canada and Mexico. AbbVie is solely responsible for the further development, regulatory approval and commercialization of linaclotide in those countries and funding any costs.

License Agreement with AbbVie (All countries other than the countries and territories of North America, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), and Japan)

In April 2009, we entered into a license agreement with Almirall, S.A., or Almirall, or the European License Agreement, to develop and commercialize linaclotide in Europe (including the Commonwealth of Independent States and Turkey) for the treatment of IBS-C, CIC, and other GI conditions. In October 2015, Almirall transferred its exclusive license to develop and commercialize linaclotide in Europe to AbbVie. In January 2017, we and AbbVie entered into an amendment to the European License Agreement. The European License Agreement, as amended, extended the license to develop and commercialize linaclotide in all countries other than China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Japan, and the countries and territories of North America. We refer to the additional licensed countries as the Expanded Territory. Under the European License agreement, AbbVie is obligated to pay us (i) certain commercial milestones totaling up to $42.5 million, (ii) royalties based on sales volume in Europe, beginning in the mid-single digits percent and escalating to the upper-teens percent, and (iii) on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis in the Expanded Territory, a royalty as a percentage of net sales of products containing linaclotide as an active ingredient in the upper-single digits for five years following the first commercial sale of a linaclotide product in a country, and in the low-double digits thereafter. The royalty rate for products in the Expanded Territory will decrease, on a country-by-country basis, to the lower-single digits, or cease entirely, following the occurrence of certain events.

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License Agreement for Japan with Astellas

In November 2009, we entered into a license agreement with Astellas to develop and commercialize linaclotide for the treatment of IBS-C, CIC, and other GI conditions in Japan. On August 1, 2019, we and Astellas amended and restated the license agreement. Under the terms of the amended and restated license agreement, Astellas is obligated to pay royalties to us at rates beginning in the mid-single-digits percent and escalating to low-double-digits percent, based on aggregate annual net sales in Japan of products containing linaclotide active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API.

Collaboration Agreement for China (including Hong Kong and Macau), with AstraZeneca

In October 2012, we entered into a collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to co-develop and co-commercialize linaclotide in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). In September 2019, we and AstraZeneca amended and restated the collaboration agreement, under which AstraZeneca obtained the exclusive right to develop, manufacture and commercialize products containing linaclotide in the territory. Under the terms of the amended and restated agreement, we transferred all manufacturing responsibilities in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) to AstraZeneca, and we were entitled to receive non-contingent payments totaling $35.0 million in three installments through 2024, with the final installment collected during the first quarter of 2024. In addition, AstraZeneca may be required to make milestone payments totaling up to $90.0 million contingent on the achievement of certain sales targets and is required to pay tiered royalties to us at rates beginning in the mid-single-digits percent and increasing up to twenty percent based on the aggregate annual net sales of products containing linaclotide in the territory.

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Development and Commercialization Agreement with AKP

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In March 2022, VectivBio entered into a development and commercialization agreement with Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, or AKP, in which VectivBio granted an exclusive license to AKP, with the right to sublicense in multiple tiers, to develop, commercialize and exploit products derived from apraglutide in Japan.

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Pursuant to the terms of the development and commercialization agreement with AKP, VectivBio received an upfront payment of JPY 3,000 million ($24.6 million at date of agreement) and development-related payments of JPY 1,600 million in the aggregate ($13.1 million at date of agreement) and is eligible to receive development milestones of JPY 1,000 million ($8.2 million at date of agreement) and up to JPY 19,000 million ($155.8 million at date of agreement) of commercial and sales-based milestone payments. VectivBio is also eligible to receive payments in the commercial period for manufacturing supply equal to cost-plus manufacturing mark-up and tiered royalties of up to a mid-double-digit percentage on product sales continuing until the later of (i) expiration of regulatory exclusivity in Japan, or (ii) expiration of the last valid patent claim that provides exclusivity to apraglutide in Japan, or the Royalty Term. The development and commercialization agreement will terminate upon the expiration of the Royalty Term.

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Our Strategy

Our strategy is focused on three core priorities: maximizing LINZESS, advancing apraglutide, and delivering sustained profits and cash flow.

Key elements of our strategy include:

Maximizing LINZESS

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Advancing Apraglutide

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Delivering sustained profits and cash flows

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Competition

Linaclotide competes globally with certain branded and generic prescription therapies and over-the-counter, or OTC, products for the treatment of IBS-C and CIC, or their associated symptoms.

OTC laxatives make up the majority of the treatments in the U.S. for IBS-C and CIC, according to our research. LINZESS is the number one prescribed branded treatment in the U.S. for adults with IBS-C and CIC, according to 2025 data from IQVIA Inc. National Prescription Audit.

Until the launch of LINZESS, the only available branded prescription therapy for IBS-C and CIC in the U.S. was AMITIZA® (lubiprostone), which is approved for the treatments of CIC, IBS-C and opioid induced constipation. Takeda Pharmaceuticals Limited, or Takeda’s AMITIZA is approved for commercialization in the U.S. and in certain European countries, including the United Kingdom and Switzerland by Sucampo AG, for the treatment of adults with CIC, and for the treatment of chronic constipation in Japan by Mylan N.V. Authorized generic versions of AMITIZA have been available in the U.S. since January 2021. TRULANCE® (plecanatide) was approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adults with IBS-C and CIC and is being commercialized in the U.S. by Bausch Health Companies, or Bausch. Shire plc obtained approval of MOTEGRITY™ (prucalopride) in the U.S. for the treatment of CIC in adults, and generic versions have been available in the U.S. since January 2025. Ardelyx, Inc.’s, or Ardelyx, IBSRELA™ (tenapanor), is approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment for IBS-C in adults, and Vibrant Gastro Inc’s. Vibrant, a drug-free capsule, is approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of CIC in adults who have not experienced relief of their bowel symptoms by using laxative therapies at the recommended dosage for at least one month. OTC laxatives such as MiraLAX® and DULCOLAX®, and lactulose, a prescription laxative treatment, are also available for the treatment of constipation.

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In addition, any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing drugs and new drugs that may become available in the future. For example, for apraglutide, we compete with companies that are commercializing or developing drugs for SBS, such as Takeda, which currently distributes the GLP-2 analog teduglutide, marketed as GATTEX® (teduglutide) in the U.S. and REVESTIVE® (teduglutide for injection) in Europe, and Zealand Pharma A/S, or Zealand, which is developing glepaglutide, a long-acting GLP-2 analog, for the potential treatment of SBS for patients who are dependent on PS and initiated an additional Phase III clinical trial in the first quarter of 2026. Hanmi Pharmaceutical is also developing a GLP-2 analog, to be administered once a month, and which is being evaluated in a Phase II clinical trial. Products with other mechanisms of action may emerge as future competition.

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Manufacturing and Supply

Linaclotide

It is our objective that the supply of linaclotide be safe and effective, with redundancy built into critical steps of the supply chain, and that each of our collaboration partners are in a position to manage the supply and distribution of linaclotide in their respective territories through a combination of contract manufacturers and in-house manufacturing capabilities. Linaclotide production consists of three phases—manufacture of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API (sometimes referred to as drug substance), manufacture of finished drug product and manufacture of finished goods. We and/or our partners have commercial supply agreements with multiple third-party manufacturers for the production of linaclotide API. We believe the current commercial suppliers have the capabilities to produce linaclotide API in accordance with current good manufacturing practices, or GMP, on a sufficient scale to meet the worldwide development and commercial needs for linaclotide. The commercial suppliers of linaclotide API are subject to routine inspections by regulatory agencies worldwide and also undergo periodic audit and certification by our partners’ or our own quality department.

Each of AbbVie, Astellas and AstraZeneca is responsible for linaclotide API, finished drug product and finished goods manufacturing (including bottling and packaging) and distributing the finished goods to wholesalers in its respective territories.

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Prior to linaclotide, there was no precedent for long-term room temperature shelf storage formulation for an orally dosed peptide to be produced in millions of capsules per year. Our efforts to date have led to formulations that are both cost effective and able to meet the stability requirements for commercial pharmaceutical products.

Apraglutide

We do not currently own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of clinical or, if approved, commercial quantities of apraglutide. We design and develop the manufacturing process for apraglutide together with contract development and manufacturing organizations, or CDMOs. We utilize these CDMOs to manufacture apraglutide for human use. Although we intend to rely on third-party CDMOs to produce apraglutide, we have personnel with experience managing third-party CDMOs producing apraglutide in clinical or commercial quantities.

Our clinical trials of apraglutide currently use the product in the form of a lyophilized powder in vial that is solubilized and reconstituted with a diluent prior to injection. We are also evaluating novel drug product presentations for further development, with the goal of providing increased patient convenience and increased simplicity of the dosing and self-injection.

Sales and Marketing

For the foreseeable future, in the U.S., we intend to develop and commercialize LINZESS with our partner, AbbVie, and apraglutide, if approved, alone. In territories outside the U.S., we expect to rely on partners to develop and commercialize our products and product candidates. In executing our strategy, our goal is to retain oversight over the worldwide development and commercialization of our products by playing an active role in their commercialization or finding partners who share our vision, values, culture and processes.

We and/or our partners have core commercial capabilities in place, including marketing, patient engagement and key sales support roles.

We are also coordinating efforts with our linaclotide partners to launch and maintain an integrated, global linaclotide brand. By leveraging the knowledge base and expertise of our experienced commercial team and the insights of each of our linaclotide commercialization partners, we continually improve our collective marketing strategies.

We continue to plan for a potential commercial launch of apraglutide, if successfully developed and approved, in the U.S. and with partners in territories outside the U.S. For example, we granted AKP an exclusive license to sublicense, develop, commercialize and exploit products derived from apraglutide in Japan. We are considering potential partnerships in other territories outside the U.S.

Patents and Proprietary Rights

We actively seek to protect the proprietary technology that we consider important to our business, including pursuing patents that cover our products, compositions, and formulations, their methods of use and the processes for their manufacture, as well as any other relevant inventions and improvements that are commercially important to the development of our business. We also rely on trade secrets that may be important to the development of our business.

Our success will depend significantly on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for the technology, inventions and improvements we consider important to our business; defend our patents; preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets; and operate without infringing the patents and proprietary rights of third parties.

The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is 20 years from the date of filing the non-provisional application. We expect to apply, and have applied, for patent term extension in countries where it is available.

Linaclotide Patent Portfolio

After the recent expiration of a number of patents in our linaclotide patent portfolio, our linaclotide patent portfolio is currently composed of 11 patents in the U.S., including 7 U.S. patents listed in the U.S. FDA publication,

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Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, or the Orange Book, four granted European patents, most of which have been validated in available European countries, ten granted Japanese patents, a granted Chinese patent, 46 issued patents in other foreign jurisdictions, and numerous pending U.S., foreign and Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT, patent applications. We and our partners own, either jointly or individually, all of the issued patents and pending applications.

The issued, unexpired U.S. patents, which will expire between 2026 and 2033, contain claims directed to the linaclotide molecule, pharmaceutical compositions thereof, methods of using linaclotide to treat GI disorders, and room temperature stable formulations of linaclotide and methods of use thereof. Linaclotide, the active ingredient in the 72 mcg, 145 mcg and 290 mcg LINZESS doses, is covered by a composition of matter patent in the U.S., which recently received pediatric exclusivity, and now expires in 2027. In addition, the commercial formulations of the 72 mcg, 145 mcg and 290 mcg LINZESS doses are covered by patents in the U.S. that expire in the early 2030s. The granted, unexpired European patents, which will expire between 2027 and 2031, some of which have received patent term extension, contain claims directed to the linaclotide molecule, pharmaceutical compositions thereof, uses of linaclotide to prepare medicaments for treating GI disorders, and room temperature stable formulations of linaclotide and their use in treating IBS-C and chronic constipation. The granted, unexpired Chinese patent, which will expire in 2029, the granted Japanese patents, which will expire between 2026 and 2036, some of which are subject to granted and potential patent term extension, and the granted patents in other foreign jurisdictions, which will expire between 2026 and 2031, some of which may be subject to potential patent term extension, contain claims directed to the linaclotide molecule, pharmaceutical compositions of linaclotide for use in treating GI disorders, and room temperature stable formulations of linaclotide.

We have pending patent applications in certain countries worldwide that, if issued, will expire between 2029 and 2045 and which include claims covering the linaclotide molecule, methods of using linaclotide to treat GI disorders, the current commercial formulations of linaclotide and uses thereof to treat GI disorders and delayed release and other potential formulations of linaclotide.

The patent term of a patent that covers a U.S. FDA approved drug is also eligible for patent term extension, which permits patent term extension as compensation for some of the patent term lost during the U.S. FDA regulatory review process. The Hatch Waxman Act permits a patent term extension of a single patent applicable to an approved drug for up to five years beyond the expiration of the patent, but the extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval by the U.S. FDA. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Certificate of Patent Term Extension for U.S. Patent 7,304,036, which covers linaclotide and methods of use thereof. As a result, the patent term of this patent was extended to August 30, 2026, 14 years from the date of linaclotide’s approval by the U.S. FDA. Similar provisions are available in Europe and certain other foreign jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. We have received patent term extensions in Japan for several of our linaclotide patents. We have also received patent term extensions, called supplementary protection certificates, for certain linaclotide patents from several national patent offices in Europe. In addition, in October 2025, the U.S. FDA granted us a pediatric exclusivity for studies conducted on linaclotide, which extended the patent term of U.S. Patent 7,304,036 by six months to February 28, 2027, as well as extending the patent term of the remaining Orange Book listed patent by six months.

We and AbbVie received Paragraph IV certification notice letters regarding abbreviated new drug applications, or ANDAs, submitted to the U.S. FDA by five generic drug manufacturers requesting approval to engage in commercial manufacture, use, sale and offer for sale of linaclotide capsules (72 mcg, 145 mcg and 290 mcg), proposed generic versions of LINZESS. All five manufacturers requested approval for their 145 mcg and 290 mcg generic doses of LINZESS and two requested additional approval for their 72 mcg generic doses of LINZESS. We and AbbVie have entered into settlement agreements with all five of these generic drug manufacturers providing for licenses to market their 72 mcg (if applicable), 145 mcg and 290 mcg generic versions of LINZESS, beginning as early as March 2029 (subject to U.S. FDA Approval), unless certain limited circumstances, customary for settlement agreements of this nature, occur.

Apraglutide Patent Portfolio

Our apraglutide patent portfolio includes a patent family which we exclusively license that is composed of one issued U.S. patent and 58 foreign patents. This patent family contains composition-of-matter claims covering apraglutide and methods of treatment using apraglutide. The patents in this patent family that we exclusively license outside of the

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U.S. are issued in Europe, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, as well as other jurisdictions. The issued European patent is validated and issued in 37 countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment, regulatory patent term extensions or terminal disclaimers, and assuming that all annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, the patents in this patent family are expected to expire in 2030.

Our apraglutide portfolio also includes five wholly owned patent families. The first patent family includes two granted U.S. patent and five pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications, as well as 2 granted patents and 16 pending foreign patent applications related to apraglutide. One of the granted U.S. patents in this patent family claims a method of treating SBS at certain doses of apraglutide, and the other claims a liquid formulation of apraglutide for injection. The pending U.S. and foreign patent applications contain composition-of-matter claims to ultrapure compositions of apraglutide, methods of manufacturing apraglutide, and methods of treatment using apraglutide. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment, regulatory patent term extensions or terminal disclaimers, and assuming that all annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, the U.S. patent, as well as patents granted from the pending U.S and foreign patent applications, would be expected to expire in 2041.

The second patent family which we wholly own includes one granted European patent which has been validated in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain, one pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications and 13 pending foreign patent applications related to methods of treating acute Graft versus Host Disease, or aGvHD, using apraglutide. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment, regulatory patent term extension or terminal disclaimers, and assuming that all annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, the granted European patent and any U.S. and foreign patents granted from the pending patent applications would be expected to expire in 2042.

We also have two additional patent families related to methods of treating SBS using apraglutide and one patent family related to methods of treating aGvHD with a combination of apraglutide and ruxolitinib. If granted, these patent applications will expire in 2045.

Government Regulation

Our business is subject to government regulation in the U.S., E.U., and in other countries. The U.S. FDA, the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, and other regulatory authorities have very broad enforcement authority and failure to abide by applicable regulatory requirements can result in administrative or judicial sanctions being imposed on us, including warning letters, refusals of government contracts, clinical holds, civil penalties, injunctions, restitution, disgorgement of profits, recall or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, withdrawal of approval, refusal to approve pending applications, and civil or criminal prosecution. Within the U.S., in addition to the U.S. FDA, numerous federal, state and local authorities have jurisdiction over, or enforce laws related to, such activities, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, the U.S. Department of Justice, state Attorneys General, state departments of health and state pharmacy boards.

U.S. FDA Approval Process

In the U.S., pharmaceutical products are subject to extensive regulation by the U.S. FDA. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and other federal and state statutes and regulations, as well as similar foreign regulations, govern, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, storage, recordkeeping, approval, labeling, promotion and marketing, distribution, post-marketing requirements and assessments, post-approval monitoring and reporting, sampling, pricing reimbursement and import and export of pharmaceutical products.

No company may market a new drug in the U.S. until it has submitted an NDA to the U.S. FDA, and the U.S. FDA has approved it. The steps required before the U.S. FDA may approve an NDA generally include:

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Non-clinical tests include laboratory evaluation of the product candidate, as well as animal studies to assess the potential safety and efficacy of the product candidate. The conduct of the non-clinical tests must comply with federal regulations and requirements including GLP. With passage of the U.S. FDA’s Modernization Act 2.0 in December 2022, Congress eliminated provisions in the FDCA that required animal testing in support of an NDA. In April 2025, the U.S. FDA released a roadmap to replace animal testing in preclinical safety studies with scientifically validated new approach methodologies, such as organ-on-a-chip systems, computational modeling, and advanced in vitro assays. We must submit the results of the non-clinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data and a proposed clinical trial protocol to the U.S. FDA as part of an IND, which must become effective before we may commence human clinical trials in the U.S.

The IND will automatically become effective 30 days after its receipt by the U.S. FDA, unless the U.S. FDA raises concerns or questions before that time about the conduct of the proposed trial. In such a case, we must work with the U.S. FDA to resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can proceed. We cannot be sure that submission of an IND will result in the U.S. FDA allowing clinical trials to begin, or that, once begun, issues will not arise that will cause us or the U.S. FDA to modify, suspend or terminate such trials. The study protocol and informed consent information for patients in clinical trials must also be submitted to an IRB, for approval. An IRB may also require the clinical trial at the site to be halted, either temporarily or permanently, for failure to comply with the IRB requirements or if the trial has been associated with unexpected serious harm to subjects. An IRB may also impose other conditions on the trial. For studies conducted outside of the U.S., similarly, we are subject to local regulations which may differ from the U.S. and local regulations must be followed appropriately. Additionally, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data monitoring committee. This group may recommend continuation of the trial as planned, changes in trial conduct, or cessation of the trial at designated checkpoints based on access to certain data from the trial.

Clinical trials involve the administration of the product candidate to humans under the supervision of qualified investigators, generally physicians not employed by or under the trial sponsor’s control. Clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases, though the phases may overlap or be combined. In Phase I, the initial introduction of the drug into healthy human subjects, the drug is usually tested for safety (adverse effects), dosage tolerance and

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pharmacologic action, as well as to understand how the drug is taken up by and distributed within the body. Phase II usually involves studies in a limited patient population (individuals with the disease under study) to:

Phase III clinical trials further evaluate clinical efficacy and test for safety within an expanded patient population. The conduct of clinical trials is subject to extensive regulation, including compliance with GCP regulations and guidance, and regulations designed to protect the rights and safety of subjects involved in investigations.

Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials must be submitted at least annually to the U.S. FDA and more frequently if serious adverse events occur. In addition, IND safety reports must be submitted to the U.S. FDA for any of the following: serious and unexpected suspected adverse reactions; findings from other studies or animal or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk to humans exposed to the product; and any clinically important increase in the case of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. The U.S. FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCPs, and the integrity of the clinical data submitted. In December 2025, the U.S. FDA released final guidance outlining its processes and practices applicable to bioresearch monitoring inspections.

The U.S. FDA may order the temporary or permanent discontinuation of a clinical trial at any time or impose other sanctions if it believes that the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with U.S. FDA requirements or presents an unacceptable risk to the clinical trial patients. We may also suspend clinical trials at any time on various grounds.

Sponsors of clinical trials of certain U.S. FDA-regulated products, including prescription drugs, are required to register and disclose certain clinical trial information on a public registry maintained by the National Institutes of Health. The failure to submit clinical trial information to clinicaltrials.gov is a prohibited act under the FDCA with violations subject to potential civil monetary penalties, injunctions and/or criminal prosecution or disqualification from federal grants. Although the U.S. FDA has historically not enforced these reporting requirements, the U.S. FDA has issued several notices of non-compliance to manufacturers since April 2021. While these notices of non-compliance did not result in civil monetary penalties, the failure to submit clinical trial information to clinicaltrials.gov, as required, is a prohibited act under the FDCA with violations subject to potential civil monetary penalties of up to $10,000 for each day of the violation.

The results of the non-clinical studies and clinical trials, together with other detailed information, including the manufacture and composition of the product candidate, are submitted to the U.S. FDA in the form of an NDA requesting approval to market the drug. The U.S. FDA approval of the NDA is required before marketing of the product may begin in the U.S. If the NDA contains all pertinent information and data, the U.S. FDA will “file” the application and begin review. In the event it does not, the U.S. FDA will issue a “refuse-to-file” determination and request additional information before filing the NDA. U.S. FDA reviews an NDA pursuant to certain timelines and goals established by the PDUFA. The review process, however, may be extended by U.S. FDA requests for additional information, non-clinical or clinical studies, clarification regarding information already provided in the submission, or submission of a REMS.

The U.S. FDA may refer an application to an advisory committee for review, evaluation and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. The U.S. FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions. Before approving an NDA, the U.S. FDA will typically inspect the facilities at which the product candidate is manufactured and will not approve the product candidate unless current GMP compliance is satisfactory. The U.S. FDA also typically inspects facilities responsible for performing animal testing, as well as clinical investigators who participate in clinical trials.

The U.S. FDA may refuse to approve an NDA if applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied or may require additional testing or information. If the U.S. FDA decides not to approve an NDA, it will issue a Complete Response Letter outlining the deficiencies in the application and need for additional data and information. While Complete

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Response Letters were previously treated by the U.S. FDA as confidential and were only disclosed in action packages for approved products, the U.S. FDA announced in September 2025 that it will release Complete Response Letters promptly after they are issued to sponsors. Since that announcement, the U.S. FDA has posted a number of Complete Response Letters on its website. If the U.S. FDA approves an NDA, it may also limit the indications for use and/or require post marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of a product. Once granted, product approvals may be withdrawn if compliance with regulatory standards is not maintained or problems are identified following initial marketing.

The testing and approval process requires substantial time, effort and financial resources, and our product candidates may not be approved on a timely basis, if at all. The time and expense required to perform the clinical testing necessary to obtain U.S. FDA approval for regulated products can frequently exceed the time and expense of the research and development initially required to create the product. The results of non-clinical studies and initial clinical trials of our product candidates are not necessarily predictive of the results from large-scale clinical trials, and clinical trials may be subject to additional costs, delays or modifications due to a number of factors, including difficulty in obtaining enough patients, investigators or product candidate supply. Failure by us or our collaborators, licensors or licensees to obtain, or any delay in obtaining, regulatory approvals or in complying with requirements could adversely affect commercialization and our ability to receive product or royalty revenues.

Hatch-Waxman Act

The Hatch-Waxman Act established abbreviated approval procedures for generic drugs. Approval to market and distribute these drugs is obtained by submitting an ANDA with the U.S. FDA. The application for a generic drug is “abbreviated” because it need not include non-clinical or clinical data to demonstrate safety and effectiveness and may instead rely on the U.S. FDA’s previous finding that the brand drug, or reference drug, is safe and effective. In order to obtain approval of an ANDA, an applicant must, among other things, establish that its product is bioequivalent to an existing approved drug and that it has the same active ingredient(s), strength, dosage form, and route of administration. A generic drug is considered bioequivalent to its reference drug if testing demonstrates that the rate and extent of absorption of the generic drug is not significantly different from the rate and extent of absorption of the reference drug when administered under similar experimental conditions.

The Hatch-Waxman Act also provides incentives by awarding, in certain circumstances, certain legal protections from generic competition. This protection comes in the form of a non-patent exclusivity period, during which the U.S. FDA may not accept, or approve, an application for a generic drug, whether the application for such drug is submitted through an ANDA or a through another form of application, known as a 505(b)(2) application. This type of NDA authorizes the U.S. FDA to approve a follow-on product on the basis of, among other things, the U.S. FDA’s previous findings of safety and effectiveness for a reference product.

The Hatch-Waxman Act grants five years of regulatory exclusivity when a company develops and gains NDA approval of a new chemical entity that has not been previously approved by the U.S. FDA. This exclusivity provides that the U.S. FDA may not accept an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application for five years after the date of approval of previously approved drug, or four years in the case of an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application that challenges a patent claiming the reference drug (see discussion below regarding Paragraph IV Certifications). The Hatch-Waxman Act also provides three years of regulatory exclusivity for approved applications for drugs that are not new chemical entities, if the application contains the results of new clinical investigations (other than bioavailability studies) conducted or sponsored by the applicant that were essential to approval of the application. Examples of applications that may require new clinical investigations essential to approval and receive three-year exclusivity include applications for new indications, dosage forms (including new drug delivery systems), strengths, or conditions of use for an already approved product. This three-year exclusivity period only protects against U.S. FDA approval of ANDAs and 505(b)(2) applications for generic drugs for the conditions of approval (for example, indication or dosage form) that required new clinical investigations that were essential to approval; it does not prohibit the U.S. FDA from accepting or approving ANDAs or 505(b)(2) NDAs for generic drugs that do not include such conditions of approval.

Paragraph IV Certifications. Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, NDA applicants and NDA holders must provide information about certain patents claiming their drugs, or methods of use of the drug that is the subject of the NDA, for listing in the Orange Book. When an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application is submitted, it must contain one of several possible certifications regarding each of the patents listed in the Orange Book for the reference drug. A certification that a listed patent is invalid, unenforceable or will not be infringed by the sale of the proposed product is called a “Paragraph

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IV” certification. A certification that provides the date a listed patent will expire, but does not challenge the validity, enforceability or infringement of the patent, is called a “Paragraph III” certification. The U.S. FDA can approve the ANDA or 505(b)(2) application containing the Paragraph III certification upon expiration of the patent.

Within 20 days of the acceptance by the U.S. FDA of an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application containing a Paragraph IV certification, the applicant must notify the NDA holder and patent owner that the application has been submitted and provide the factual and legal basis for the applicant’s opinion that the patent is invalid, unenforceable, or not infringed. The NDA holder or patent holder may then initiate a patent infringement suit in response to the Paragraph IV notice. If this is done within 45 days of receiving notice of the Paragraph IV certification, a 30-month stay of the U.S. FDA’s ability to approve the ANDA or 505(b)(2) application is triggered. The U.S. FDA may approve the proposed product before the expiration of the 30-month stay only if a court finds the patent invalid or not infringed, and the court may shorten or lengthen the 30-month stay under certain limited circumstances.

Patent Term Extension. Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, a portion of the patent term lost during product development and U.S. FDA review of an NDA or 505(b)(2) application is extended if approval of the application is the first permitted commercial marketing of a drug containing the active ingredient. The patent term extension period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of the IND and the date of submission of the NDA, plus the time between the date of submission of the NDA and the date of U.S. FDA approval of the product. The maximum period of patent term extension is five years, and the patent cannot be extended to more than 14 years from the date of U.S. FDA approval of the product. Only one unexpired patent claiming the drug product, a method of using the product or a method of manufacturing the product is eligible for extension and the patent holder must apply for extension within 60 days of approval. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, in consultation with the U.S. FDA, reviews and approves the application for patent term extension.

Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity

Orphan drug designation in the U.S. is designed to encourage sponsors to develop products intended for the treatment of rare diseases or conditions. In the U.S., a rare disease or condition is statutorily defined as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the U.S. or that affects more than 200,000 individuals in the U.S. and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making the product available for the disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product in the U.S.

Orphan drug designation qualifies a company for certain tax credits. In addition, if a product candidate that has orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first U.S. FDA approval for that drug for the disease for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug exclusivity, which means that the U.S. FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same drug for the same indication for seven years following product approval unless the subsequent product candidate is demonstrated to be clinically superior on the basis of greater efficacy or safety, or by providing a major contribution to patient care. Absent a showing of clinical superiority, the U.S. FDA cannot approve the same product made by another manufacturer for the same indication during the market exclusivity period unless it has the consent of the sponsor, or the sponsor is unable to provide sufficient quantities.

Pediatric Exclusivity

Pediatric exclusivity is another type of regulatory exclusivity in the U.S. and, if granted, provides for the attachment of an additional six months of regulatory exclusivity to the term of any existing patent or non-patent regulatory exclusivity, including orphan exclusivity, for drug products. This six-month exclusivity may be granted if an NDA sponsor submits pediatric data that fairly respond to a written request from the U.S. FDA for such data. If the clinical trial is deemed to fairly respond to the U.S. FDA’s request, the additional exclusivity protection is granted. This is not a patent term extension, but it effectively extends the period during which the U.S. FDA cannot approve another application.

Regulation of Drug-Device Combination Products in the U.S.

Certain products may be comprised of components, such as drug components and device components that would normally be subject to different regulatory frameworks by the U.S. FDA and frequently regulated by different centers at the U.S. FDA. These products are known as drug-device combination products. Under the FDCA and its

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implementing regulations, the U.S. FDA is charged with assigning a center with primary jurisdiction, or a lead center, for review of a drug-device combination product. The determination of which center will be the lead center is based on the “primary mode of action” of the drug-device combination product. Thus, if the primary mode of action of a drug-device combination product is attributable to the drug product, the U.S. FDA center responsible for premarket review of the drug product would have primary jurisdiction for the drug-device combination product. The U.S. FDA has also established an Office of Combination Products to address issues surrounding combination products and provide more certainty to the regulatory review process. That office serves as a focal point for combination product issues for agency reviewers and industry. It is also responsible for developing guidance and regulations to clarify the regulation of combination products, and for assignment of the U.S. FDA center that has primary jurisdiction for review of drug-device combination products where the jurisdiction is unclear or in dispute.

A drug-device combination product with a primary mode of action attributable to the drug component generally would be reviewed and approved pursuant to the drug approval processes set forth in the FDCA. In reviewing the NDA for such a product, however, U.S. FDA reviewers could consult with their counterparts in the device center to ensure that the device component of the combination product met applicable requirements regarding safety, effectiveness, durability and performance. Approval may require the performance of certain clinical studies, such as clinical usability or human factors studies to demonstrate the safety and/or effectiveness of the device component of the combination product. In addition, under U.S. FDA regulations, drug-device combination products are subject to current GMP requirements applicable to both drugs and devices, including the Quality System Regulations applicable to medical devices.

Other U.S. Regulatory Requirements

After approval, finished drug products are subject to extensive continuing regulation by the U.S. FDA, which includes company obligations to manufacture products in accordance with current GMP, maintain and provide to the U.S. FDA updated safety and efficacy information, report adverse experiences with the product, keep certain records and submit periodic reports, obtain U.S. FDA approval of certain manufacturing or labeling changes, and comply with U.S. FDA promotion and advertising requirements and restrictions. Failure to meet these obligations can result in various adverse consequences, both voluntary and U.S. FDA-imposed, including product recalls, withdrawal of approval, restrictions on marketing, and the imposition of civil fines and criminal penalties against the NDA holder. In addition, later discovery of previously unknown safety or efficacy issues may result in restrictions on the product, manufacturer or NDA holder.

We and our partners and any third-party manufacturers we or our partners engage are required to comply with applicable U.S. FDA manufacturing requirements contained in the U.S. FDA’s current GMP regulations. Current GMP regulations require, among other things, quality control and quality assurance as well as the corresponding maintenance of records and documentation. The manufacturing facilities for our products must meet current GMP requirements to the satisfaction of the U.S. FDA pursuant to a pre-approval inspection before we can use them to manufacture our products. We and any third-party manufacturers are also subject to periodic inspections of facilities by the U.S. FDA and other authorities, including procedures and operations used in the testing and manufacture of our products to assess our compliance with applicable regulations.

With respect to post-market product advertising and promotion, the U.S. FDA imposes a number of complex regulations on entities that advertise and promote pharmaceuticals, which include, among others, standards for direct-to-consumer advertising, prohibitions on promoting drugs for uses, conditions or diseases, or in patient populations that are not consistent with the drug’s approved labeling (known as “off-label use”), and principles governing industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities. Failure to comply with U.S. FDA requirements can have negative consequences, including adverse publicity, warning or untitled letters from the U.S. FDA, mandated corrective advertising or communications with doctors or patients, and civil or criminal penalties. Although physicians may prescribe legally available drugs for off-label uses, manufacturers may not market or promote such off-label uses. In January 2025, the U.S. FDA published final guidance outlining the agency’s non-binding policies governing the distribution of scientific information on unapproved uses to healthcare providers. This final guidance calls for such communications to be truthful, non-misleading, factual, and unbiased and include all information necessary for healthcare providers to interpret the strengths and weaknesses and validity and utility of the information about the unapproved use.

On September 9, 2025, the President issued a Memorandum directing HHS to “ensure transparency and accuracy in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, including by increasing the amount of information

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regarding any risks associated with the use of any such prescription drug required to be provided in prescription drug advertisements.” To that end, the U.S. FDA announced that it is initiating a rulemaking process “to eliminate the ‘adequate provision’ loophole that allows pharmaceutical advertisements to hide safety information by placing it in another format or location.” In this context, the U.S. FDA declared that it will no longer tolerate what it characterized as “deceptive practices” in prescription drug advertising and that the agency would “aggressively deploy” its available enforcement tools, with “heightened scrutiny” of fair balance and disclosures in social media promotions. The U.S. FDA also issued a generic “notice letter” directing companies to “remove any noncompliant advertising and bring all promotional communications into compliance.”

Changes to some of the conditions established in an approved application, including changes in indications, labeling, or manufacturing processes or facilities, require submission and U.S. FDA approval of a new NDA or sNDA before the change can be implemented. An sNDA for a new indication typically requires clinical data similar in type and quality to the clinical data supporting the original application for the original indication, and the U.S. FDA uses similar procedures and actions in reviewing such sNDAs as it does in reviewing NDAs.

Adverse event reporting and submission of periodic reports are required following U.S. FDA approval of an NDA. The U.S. FDA also may require post marketing testing, known as Phase IV testing, REMS, and surveillance to monitor the effects of an approved product or to place conditions on an approval that restrict the distribution or use of the product.

Outside the U.S., our and our collaborators’ abilities to market a product are contingent upon receiving marketing authorization from the appropriate regulatory authorities. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, marketing authorization, pricing and reimbursement vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. At present, foreign marketing authorizations are applied for at a national level, although within the E.U. registration procedures are available to companies wishing to market a product in more than one E.U. member state. We are subject to U.S. federal and foreign anti-corruption laws. Those laws include the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, which prohibits U.S. corporations and their representatives from offering, promising, authorizing, or making payments to any foreign government official, government staff member, political party or political candidate in an attempt to obtain or retain business abroad. The scope of the FCPA encompasses certain healthcare professionals in many countries. We are also subject to similar laws of other countries that have enacted anti-corruption laws and regulations.

EU Marketing Approval of Medicinal Products

In order to market any product outside of the U.S., a company also must comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries and jurisdictions regarding quality, safety and efficacy and governing, among other things, clinical trials, marketing authorization, commercial sales and distribution of products. Regardless of whether or not it obtains U.S. FDA approval for a product, an applicant will need to obtain the necessary marketing approvals by the comparable foreign regulatory authorities before it can initiate clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries or jurisdictions. Specifically, there are a number of similarities between the process regarding regulatory approval of medicinal products in the European Economic Area, or EEA, and that in the U.S. Marketing approval requires satisfactory completion of pharmaceutical development, non-clinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the medicinal product for each proposed indication. It also requires the submission to relevant competent authorities for a clinical trial authorization to be granted and to the EMA, or to competent authorities in E.U. Member States for granting of a marketing authorization by these authorities before the product can be marketed and sold in the E.U.

Clinical Trial Approval. Similar to the U.S., the various phases of preclinical and clinical research in the E.U. are subject to significant regulatory controls. Certain preclinical (also termed “non-clinical”) data is required in order to inform the scientific basis for clinical trials to be conducted and later for such data to be used in the dossier for supporting a marketing authorization application, or MAA. Preclinical data are required to guide the clinical development, from Phase I (first-in-human clinical trials) through to Phases II and III, to establish the safety and efficacy of a medicinal product. During all phases of clinical development, national competent authorities of E.U. Member States and other comparable regulatory authorities require extensive monitoring and auditing of all clinical trial related activities, to ensure safety of the trial participants, and quality and integrity of trial data.

In the E.U., clinical trials are governed by the Clinical Trials Regulation (E.U.) No. 536/2014, or CTR, which entered into application on January 31, 2022, replacing Directive 2001/20/EC, or CTD. The CTR is intended to

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harmonize and streamline clinical trial authorizations, simplify adverse-event reporting procedures, improve the supervision of clinical trials and increase their transparency. Prior to commencing a clinical trial, the sponsor must obtain a clinical trial authorization from competent authorities of E.U. Member States in which the sponsor intends on carrying out clinical trials, and a positive opinion from an independent Ethics Committee. The CTR, which is directly applicable in all E.U. Member States, introduces a streamlined application procedure through a single-entry point, the “E.U. portal”, the Clinical Trials Information System, or CTIS. Since January 31, 2023, the use of CTIS has become mandatory for all clinical trial sponsors submitting initial applications for the approval of their clinical trials in the E.U. The CTR also establishes a single set of documents to be prepared and submitted for the application including, among other things, a copy of the trial protocol and an investigational medicinal product dossier containing information about the manufacture and quality of the medicinal product under investigation as well as simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors.

Ongoing clinical trials authorized under CTD with at least one active site in the E.U. on January 30, 2025 needed to be transitioned to CTR. Active site in the context of transitioning means that the last visit of the last subject, or the other trial-related interventions with the subject specified in the protocol, will take place after January 30, 2025. Clinical trials with no active sites authorized under CTD do not need to be transitioned even if the global trial is still ongoing outside the E.U. after the transition deadline.

Clinical trials of medicinal products in the E.U. must be conducted in accordance with current good clinical practices requirements and the applicable regulatory requirements, including those foreseen in the Good Clinical Practice Directive 2005/28/EC, and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki. Studies should also be conducted in accordance with all applicable EMA, European Commission and national guidelines. Medicinal products used in clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with the guidelines on current GMP, and in a GMP compliant facility, which can be subject to GMP inspections.

Marketing Authorization. To obtain a marketing authorization to market a medicinal product in the EEA, an applicant must submit an MAA, either in accordance with a centralized procedure administered by the EMA or one of the procedures administered by competent authorities in E.U. Member States (decentralized procedure, national procedure or mutual recognition procedure). A marketing authorization may be granted only to an applicant established in the E.U.

The centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization by the European Commission that is valid in all E.U. Member States and through the EEA Member States – Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004, the centralized procedure is compulsory for specific medicinal products, including those (i) derived from biotechnological processes, (ii) designated as orphan medicinal products, (iii) that are classified as advanced therapy medicinal products, or ATMPs, and (iv) containing a new active substance indicated for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, auto-immune and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases. For medicinal products containing a new active substance indicated for the treatment of other diseases and products that are highly innovative or for which a centralized process is in the interest of patients, authorization through the centralized procedure is optional for product approval.

Under the centralized procedure, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, conducts the scientific assessment of a medicinal product in respect of its safety, quality and efficacy for the purpose of determining its approvability.

Under the centralized procedure in the EEA, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA is 210 days, excluding clock stops. Procedural clock-stops provide the applicant with the time to gather additional information in response to the outstanding questions raised by the CHMP. Accelerated assessment may be accepted by the CHMP in exceptional cases, when a medicinal product is considered to be of major interest from the point of view of public health, and, in particular, from the viewpoint of therapeutic innovation. If the CHMP accepts a request for accelerated assessment, the time limit of 210 days will be reduced to 150 days. The CHMP can, however, revert to the standard time limit for the centralized procedure if it considers that it is no longer appropriate to conduct an accelerated assessment.

A marketing authorization granted under the E.U. regulatory system is valid for five years. The MA may be renewed after five years on the basis of a re-evaluation of the risk-benefit balance by the EMA or by the competent authority of the E.U. Member State in which the original MA was granted. To support the application, the MA holder must provide the EMA or the competent authority with a consolidated version of the electronic Common Technical

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Document providing up-to-date data concerning the quality, safety and efficacy of the product, including all variations introduced since the MA was granted, at least nine months before the MA ceases to be valid. The European Commission or the competent authorities of the E.U. Member States may decide on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with one further five-year renewal period for the MA. Thereafter, the MA shall be valid for an unlimited period. Any authorization which is not followed by the actual placing of the medicinal product on the E.U. market (for a centralized MA) or on the market of the authorizing E.U. Member State within three years after authorization ceases to be valid (the so-called sunset clause).

Innovative products that target an unmet medical need and are expected to be of major public health interest may be eligible for a number of expedited development and review programs, such as the Priority Medicines, or PRIME, scheme, which provides incentives similar to the breakthrough therapy designation in the U.S. PRIME is a voluntary scheme aimed at enhancing the EMA’s support for the development of medicinal products that target unmet medical needs. Eligible products must target conditions for which there is an unmet medical need (there is no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment in the E.U. or, if there is, the new medicinal product will bring a major therapeutic advantage) and they must demonstrate the potential to address the unmet medical need by introducing new methods of therapy or improving existing ones. Benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and potentially accelerated MAA assessment once a dossier has been submitted.

Combination Products. As in the U.S., the regulation of combination drug-device products depends in large part on which component has the primary mode of action.

Where a medical device incorporates a medicinal product as an integral part as a single use drug delivery system, it is regulated as a medicinal product in accordance with Directive 2001/83/EC. In this case, the relevant General Safety and Performance Requirements of the Medical Device Regulation will apply to the safety and performance of the drug delivery device component.

Orphan Medicinal Product Designation and Exclusivity. Regulation (EC) No. 141/2000, as implemented by Regulation (EC) No. 847/2000, provides that a medicinal product can be designated as an orphan medicinal product by the European Commission if its sponsor can establish that (1) the product is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition; (2) either (a) such condition affects no more than five in ten thousand persons in the E.U. when the application is made, or (b) the product, without the benefits derived from orphan status, would not generate sufficient return in the E.U.; and (3) there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of the condition in question that has been authorized in the E.U. or, if such method exists, the product will be of significant benefit to those affected by that condition.

In the E.U., an application for designation as an orphan product can be made any time prior to the filing of the MAA. Orphan medicinal product designation entitles a sponsor to incentives such as fee reductions or fee waivers, protocol assistance, and access to the centralized MA procedure. Upon grant of an MA, provided that the orphan designation is maintained following a satisfactory re-assessment by the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products, or COMP, of the EMA of the criteria for orphan designation, orphan medicinal products are entitled to a ten-year period of market exclusivity for the approved therapeutic indication, which means that the EMA cannot accept another MAA, or grant an MA, or accept an application to extend an MA for a similar product for the same indication for a period of ten years. The period of market exclusivity is extended by two years for orphan medicinal products provided that the results of all studies conducted in compliance with an agreed PIP are provided – even though the results do not lead to an approval of a pediatric indication, but the results of the studies conducted are reflected in the summary of product characteristics and, if appropriate, in the package leaflet of the medicinal product concerned. Orphan medicinal product designation does not confer any advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the regulatory review and approval process.

The period of market exclusivity may, however, be reduced to six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is established that the product no longer meets the criteria on the basis of which it received orphan medicinal product destination, including where it can be demonstrated on the basis of available evidence that the original orphan medicinal product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity or where the prevalence of the condition has increased above the threshold. Additionally, an MA may be granted to a similar medicinal product with the same orphan indication during the 10 year period if: (i) if the applicant consents to a second original orphan medicinal product application, (ii) if the manufacturer of the original orphan medicinal product is unable to supply sufficient

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quantities; or (iii) if the second applicant can establish that its product, although similar, is safer, more effective or otherwise clinically superior to the original orphan medicinal product. A company may voluntarily remove a product from the register of orphan products.

Post-Approval Requirements. Where an MA is granted in relation to a medicinal product in the EEA, the holder of the MA is required to comply with a range of regulatory requirements applicable to the manufacturing, marketing, promotion and sale of medicinal products.

Similar to the U.S., both MA holders and manufacturers of medicinal products are subject to comprehensive regulatory oversight by the EMA, the European Commission and/or the competent regulatory authorities of the individual EEA countries. The holder of an MA must establish and maintain a pharmacovigilance system and appoint a qualified person for pharmacovigilance who is responsible for oversight of that system. Key obligations include expedited reporting of suspected serious adverse reactions and submission of periodic safety update reports, or PSURs.

All new MAAs must include a risk management plan describing the risk management system that the company will put in place and documenting measures to prevent or minimize the risks associated with the product. The regulatory authorities may also impose specific obligations as a condition of the MA. Such risk-minimization measures or post-authorization obligations may include additional safety monitoring, more frequent submission of PSURs, or the conduct of additional clinical trials or post-authorization safety studies.

In the E.U., the advertising and promotion of medicinal products are subject to both E.U. and E.U. Member States’ laws governing promotion of medicinal products, interactions with physicians and other healthcare professionals, misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices. Although general requirements for advertising and promotion of medicinal products are established under E.U. law, the implementing rules in each member state may differ from one country to another. In addition, the statutory control regime could be supplemented by the voluntary control of advertising of medicinal products by self-regulatory bodies.

If we fail to comply with applicable foreign regulatory requirements, we may be subject to, among other things, fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution.

International Regulation

In addition to regulations in the U.S. and the E.U., we could become subject to a variety of other foreign regulations regarding development, approval, commercial sales and distribution of our products if we seek to market our product candidates in other jurisdictions. Whether or not we obtain U.S. FDA or EMA approval for a product, we must obtain the necessary approvals by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries before we can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. The approval process varies from country to country and can involve additional product testing and additional review periods, and the time may be longer or shorter than that required to obtain U.S. FDA or EMA approval. The requirements governing, among other things, the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country. Regulatory approval in one country does not ensure regulatory approval in another, but a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one country may negatively impact the regulatory process in others. If we fail to comply with applicable foreign regulatory requirements, we may be subject to fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution.

Pricing and Reimbursement

Within the U.S., significant uncertainty exists regarding the coverage and reimbursement status of products approved by the U.S. FDA. Sales of our product, and any future products which obtain marketing approval, depend, in part, on the extent to which our products will be covered by third-party payors, such as government health programs, commercial insurance and managed healthcare organizations. The process for determining whether a third-party payor will provide coverage for a drug or biologic typically is separate from the process for setting the price of such a product or for establishing the reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the product once coverage is approved. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific products on an approved list, also known as a formulary, which might not include all of the U.S. FDA-approved drugs for a particular indication. A decision by a third-party payor not to cover our products or to restrict coverage of our products could reduce utilization of our products. Moreover, a third-party payor’s

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decision to provide coverage for a finished drug product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development. Additionally, coverage and reimbursement for products can differ significantly from payor to payor. One third-party payor’s decision to cover a particular product or service does not ensure that other payors will also provide coverage for the medical product or service or will provide coverage at an adequate reimbursement rate.

The containment of healthcare costs has become a priority of federal and state governments, and the prices of drugs and biologics have been a focus in this effort. Federal and state governments have shown significant interest in implementing cost-containment programs, including restrictions on reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products. Adoption of new or enhanced cost-containment measures could limit our net revenue and results. Third party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for medical products and services and examining the medical necessity and cost effectiveness of medical products and services, in addition to their safety and efficacy. Restrictions in coverage or decreases in third-party reimbursement for our products could have a material adverse effect on our sales, results of operations and financial condition. We expect that the pharmaceutical industry will experience pricing pressures due to the increasing influence of managed care (and related implementation of managed care strategies to control utilization), additional federal and state legislative and regulatory proposals to regulate pricing of drugs, limit coverage of drugs or reduce reimbursement for drugs, and public scrutiny of drug pricing.

There have been and likely will continue to be health care reform efforts. For example, federal legislation enacted in 2021 eliminated a statutory cap on Medicaid drug rebate program rebates effective January 1, 2024. As another example, the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, of 2022, contains various drug pricing and payment provisions. Among other provisions, the IRA imposes a yearly cap ($2,000 in 2025) on out-of-pocket prescription drug prices in Medicare Part D. Additionally, the IRA, through a newly established Manufacturer Discount Program, eliminated, effective January 1, 2025, the size of the discount on brand-name drugs that pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to offer Medicare beneficiaries who are in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, or “donut hole,” by significantly lowering the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost and requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide a 10% discount in the initial coverage phase of the plan and 20% discount in the catastrophic coverage phase of the plan on brand-name drugs.

In addition, the IRA requires Medicare to negotiate Medicare prices for certain high-cost drugs and biologicals, including both physician-administered products covered under Medicare Part B benefit and self-administered drugs covered under the Medicare Part D benefit. The CMS annually selects a specified number of negotiation-eligible drugs from those drugs with the highest total Medicare Part B or D expenditures over a preceding 12-month period. Eligible drugs generally include single source brand-name drugs or biological products that have been on the market without therapeutically-equivalent generic or biosimilar alternatives for a specified number of years with certain exceptions. Drugs and biologics that have been approved for a single rare disease or condition were originally categorically excluded from price negotiation. With passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 3, 2025, Congress extended this exemption to drugs and biologics with multiple orphan drug designations. CMS will publish the negotiated price, known as the “Maximum Fair Price”, or MFP, for each of the selected products. Manufacturers of selected drugs would be required to offer the drug for Medicare recipients at the MFP. Manufacturers who fail to negotiate or offer the MFP can face significant civil money penalties or excise tax liability on sales of that drug.

In 2024, the HHS published the results of the first Medicare drug price negotiations for 10 selected drugs that treat a range of conditions, including diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, and the prices of the selected drugs became effective on January 1, 2026. On January 17, 2025, HHS announced the selection of 15 additional drugs, which included LINZESS, covered by Medicare Part D, for the second cycle of price negotiations, and on November 25, 2025, HHS released the MFP for LINZESS. The MFP for a 30-day equivalent supply of LINZESS, which will become the new Medicare net price as of January 1, 2027, is set to $136. The revised MFP for LINZESS was in line with our expectations.

On April 15, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order which directs HHS to take steps to reduce the prices of pharmaceutical products. The new Executive Order, among other things, directs the U.S. FDA to streamline and improve its existing drug importation program so as to make it easier for states to obtain approval without sacrificing the safety or quality of drug products. Other provisions of the Executive Order relate to the 340B program. With respect to the IRA’s Medicare drug pricing program, the Executive Order, among other things, calls for alignment in “the treatment of small molecule prescription drugs with that of biological products, ending the distortion that undermines

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relative investment in small molecule prescription drugs, coupled with other reforms to prevent any increase in overall costs to Medicare and its beneficiaries.”

Further, on May 12, 2025, President Trump issued an additional Executive Order calling on pharmaceutical manufacturers to voluntarily reduce the prices of medicines in the U.S. The Executive Order directs the Secretary of HHS to communicate most-favored-nation, or MFN, price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices in line with comparably developed nations. The Executive Order further provides that if such actions do not lower the costs of pharmaceuticals, the Secretary of HHS would pursue other actions, including proposing a rulemaking that imposes MFN pricing in the United States. Subsequently, on May 20, 2025, HHS indicated that the proposed MFN pricing will apply only to brand products without generic or biosimilar competition and the reference foreign countries will include only those in which the branded product similarly does not have generic or biosimilar competition. Second, HHS indicated that the MFN target price will be the lowest price in a country that is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, with a gross domestic product, or GDP, per capita of at least 60% of the U.S. GDP per capita. Based on previous estimates, there are likely at least 22 OECD countries that would satisfy this criterion. The implications of these actions remain unclear and are likely to result in litigation if the administration pursues an MFN regulatory pricing requirement.

Subsequently, on May 20, 2025, HHS indicated that the proposed MFN pricing will apply only to brand products without generic or biosimilar competition and the reference foreign countries will include only those in which the branded product similarly does not have generic or biosimilar competition. Second, HHS indicated that the MFN target price will be the lowest price in a country that is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, with a gross domestic product, or GDP, per capita of at least 60% of the U.S. GDP per capita. Based on previous estimates, there are likely at least 22 OECD countries that would satisfy this criterion.

On July 31, 2025, the President issued letters to 17 pharmaceutical companies reiterating the requirements of the May 12, 2025 Executive Order and demanding that such companies extend MFN pricing to Medicaid patients, guarantee MFN pricing for newly-launched drug products, return increased revenues abroad to American patients and provide for direct purchasing at MFN pricing. The letters also urged these companies to stipulate that they will not offer other developed nations better prices for new drugs than the prices offered for such products in the U.S. Nearly all of these pharmaceutical companies have entered into agreements with the Trump administration to provide for lower prices on certain pharmaceuticals.

While we cannot predict what executive, legislative and regulatory proposals will be adopted or other actions will occur, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and profitability. For additional information relating to pricing and reimbursement and legislative and other reform initiatives that may affect coverage, pricing and reimbursement, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Healthcare Compliance

We are also subject to various federal and state laws pertaining to health care “fraud and abuse,” including anti-kickback laws and false claims laws, for activities related to sales of any of our products or product candidates that may in the future receive marketing approval. Anti-kickback laws generally prohibit persons from soliciting, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual, for an item or service or the purchasing or ordering of a good or service, for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid or, in some cases, private third-party payors. Although the specific provisions of these laws vary, their scope is generally broad and there may not be regulations, guidance or court decisions that apply the laws to particular industry practices. False claims laws prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, information or claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payors that are false or fraudulent. Violations of fraud and abuse laws may be punishable by criminal or civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties, and/or exclusion from federal health care programs (including Medicare and Medicaid).

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Laws and regulations have been enacted by the federal government and various states to regulate the sales and marketing practices of pharmaceutical manufacturers with marketed products. The laws and regulations generally limit financial interactions between manufacturers and health care providers, require disclosure to the government and public of such interactions and/or require reporting of pricing information or marketing expenditures. Many of these laws and regulations contain ambiguous requirements or require administrative guidance for implementation.

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Data Privacy and Security Laws

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Pharmaceutical companies may be subject to U.S. federal and state health information privacy, security and data breach notification laws, which may govern the collection, use, disclosure and protection of health-related and other personal information. State laws may be more stringent, broader in scope or offer greater individual rights with respect to protected health information, or PHI, than the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and its implementing regulations, which are collectively referred to as HIPAA, and state laws may differ from each other, which may complicate compliance efforts. Entities that are found to be in violation of HIPAA as the result of a breach of unsecured PHI, a complaint about privacy practices or an audit by the HHS, may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative fines and penalties and/or additional reporting and oversight obligations if required to enter into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with HHS to settle allegations of HIPAA non-compliance.

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In addition to federal regulation, many states have begun to focus on efforts to regulate privacy and data security. For example, in California the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which went into effect on January 1, 2020 and was expanded by the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, which went into effect on January 1, 2023, collectively establishes a privacy framework for covered businesses by creating an expanded definition of personal information, establishing new data privacy rights for consumers in the State of California, imposing special rules on the collection of consumer data from minors, and creating a new and potentially severe statutory damages framework for violations and for businesses that fail to implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. There also are states that are specifically regulating health information that may affect our business. The California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act also applies to pharmaceutical companies, including requirements for written authorization to use and disclose medical information and restrictions on the circumstances under which medical information can be used for marketing purposes. In addition, Washington state passed the My Health My Data Act, a health privacy law, which regulates the collection and sharing of health information, and provides a right of action for violation of the statute. Other states have also recently enacted or are considering enacting comprehensive data privacy and security laws to which we may become subject, and all fifty states and U.S. territories have enacted data breach notification laws. Achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable international, federal and state privacy, security, and data breach notification laws may prove time-consuming and costly.

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EEA Member States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and other jurisdictions have also adopted data protection laws and regulations, which impose significant compliance obligations. In the EEA and the United Kingdom, the collection and use of personal data, including clinical trial data, is governed by the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. The GDPR, together with national legislation, regulations and guidelines of the EEA Member States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland governing the processing of personal data, impose strict obligations and restrictions on the ability to collect, analyze and transfer personal data, including health data from clinical trials and adverse event reporting. In particular, these obligations and restrictions concern the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the transfer of personal data out of the EEA, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, data breach notifications, security and confidentiality, responding and handling data subject rights, ensuring appropriate assessments are carried out on processing operations and documented. Under these laws, data protection authorities can impose substantial potential fines for breaches of the data protection obligations. European data protection authorities may interpret the GDPR and national laws differently and impose additional requirements, which add to the complexity of processing personal data in or from the EEA, United Kingdom or Switzerland.

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Human Capital

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As of December 31, 2025, we had 100 employees. Of these employees, 66 were on our drug development team and 34 were in selling, general and administrative functions. We consider our employee relations to be good.

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In January 2025, following an analysis of our strategy and core business needs, and in an effort to streamline focus and support the continued development of our pipeline, we commenced a reduction in our workforce of approximately 50%, primarily consisting of field-based sales employees. This reduction in workforce was substantially completed during the first quarter of 2025. In August 2025, we eliminated certain positions supporting apraglutide commercialization efforts, in consideration of delays in development timelines. This reduction in workforce was comprised of 10 positions and was completed during the third quarter of 2025. Refer to Note 16, Workforce Reductions and Restructuring, to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

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Culture and Development

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Fostering a welcoming and inclusive culture is essential to attracting, motivating and retaining the talent necessary to deliver on our corporate mission. To establish and maintain this culture, we have a simple vision in mind: to make Ironwood an environment rooted in valuing each employee for who they are.

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Our workforce represents the diverse populations we serve and reflects our diversity principles in our employee-related trainings and policies. Women represent approximately 54% of our employee base, 23% of our leadership team (vice president and above) and 38% of our board of directors (including our board and audit committee chairs). Additionally, approximately 31% of our employees are racially or ethnically diverse and in 2025, approximately 57% of our new hires were racially or ethnically diverse (excluding Europe-based employees, for which race and ethnicity is not disclosed).

We seek to foster an environment where employees feel included and empowered. This approach includes initiatives such as learning and development opportunities, strengthened talent acquisition strategies, and the support of equality programs in our local communities.

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Compensation and Benefits

All our employees receive equity and are encouraged to think and act as owners of Ironwood. We strive to provide pay, benefits, and services that are competitive to market and to create incentives to attract, motivate and retain our employees. We are focused on pay equity and regularly monitor our pay practices among similar roles and responsibilities throughout our organization.

Communication and Engagement

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We strongly believe that our success depends on employees understanding how their work contributes to our ability to execute on our vision, mission and strategy. Our communication and engagement efforts seek to offset competitive talent challenges in the biopharmaceutical industry and employees’ higher expectations of their employers. To this end, we utilize a variety of channels to facilitate open and direct communication, including frequent town hall meetings, Ironwood intranet, CEO blog, leadership engagement opportunities, regular communications regarding business updates, and employee engagement surveys.

Available Information

You may obtain free copies of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed or furnished to the SEC, on the Investors section of our website at www.ironwoodpharma.com or by contacting our Investor Relations department at 617-374-5230. The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference into this report and you should not consider information provided on our website to be part of this report.

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PART II OTHER INFORMATION

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